KARACHI: More than 50 per cent of the posts of doctors in the provincial health department are currently vacant but will be filled soon, revealed Sindh Health Minister Dr Sikander Mandhro.

He was responding to queries during the Question Hour that pertained to the Sindh health department in the Sindh Assembly`s Monday session.

Responding to Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) legislator Heer Soho regarding vacant posts of doctors, the minister said that while over 4,500 doctors were working in the departmental health facilities, over 6,500 posts of doctors were vacant in the department since a long time. The chief minister, he said, has now approved the recruitment for the vacancies and in a few months these would be advertised and after following due process the vacancies wouldbe filled. Responding to a question by Pakistan Muslim League-Functional legislator Nusrat Abbasi regarding non-operational health facilities, the minister responded that while the written answer said only 21 facilities were non-operational, this information was outdated. The minister revealed that currently over 64 such health facilities were non-operational in different parts of the province.

The minister added that similarly two 50-bed hospitals one each in Karachi`s districts East and Central were also non-operational.

However, efforts were under way to make all such medical facilities in the province operational in the next budget. He said that reasons for the lack of operation of these facilities were different, including non-approval of the schedule of new expenditure etc.

The written reply to a question asked by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf`s (PTI) Khurram Sherzaman said that 240 posts in the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) at Karachiwere currently vacant. Explaining the issue, the minister said that under the 18th Constitutional Amendment it was transferred from the federal to the provincial government but soon afterwards litigation started. The Sindh High Court ordered the transfer as unconstitutional, without lawful authority and of no legal effect. The Sindh health department challenged the order in the Supreme Court which had issued status quo order. The posts would be filled after the decision from the SC, the answer stated.

Despite repeated requests by the PTI legislator, who had the right to ask three supplementary questions, Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani did not allow him to ask even one supplementary question saying that questions could not be asked in the assembly for something which was under litigation in the Supreme Court.

TB patients Responding to a query by Ms Abbasi regarding tuberculosis (TB) patients, the minister saidthat the number of TB patients detected during the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 were 50,986 and 54,169 and 57,132 respectively, and out of these 44,404, and 54,169 and 50,529 in the respective years were successfully treated. The treatment success rate was 87 per cent, 88pc and 87pc for 2010, 2011 and 2012 which was better than the World Health Organisation standard target of 85pc, it was claimed.

To another of her questions the minister responded that currently there were 72,500 registered TB patients in Sindh and 1,460 patients were suffering from multidrug resistant (MRD-TB). He said that all patients were registered and provided free medicines. Travel expenses for the patient and one caretaker were also provided to come to a designated health facility. He said that around Rs800,000 were spent on each patient.

The minister said that the government, with assistance from the Switzerland-based organisation Gavi: The Vaccine Alliance, was carryingout the fight against TB. He said that the government has set up approximately 270 TB diagnostic facilities all over the province.

Responding to another of Ms Abbasi`s questions regarding low-quality treatment facilities available in the province, the minister said that some of the advanced facilities were available in the city. Giving an example he said that there were only 32 robotic surgery facilities available around the globe, including two in India, and one such facility was available in Karachi. The minister however, did not respond to her question as to why the prime minister, various ministers/ assembly members and head of the ruling political party in Sindh go overseas to get treatment even for simple diseases when such advanced medical facilities are available in the country.

MQM legislators Kamran Akhtar, Qamar Rizvi, Sabir Qaimkhani, Zafar Kamali; PML-N legislator Sorath Thebo; Pakistan Peoples Party legislators Bahadur Dahri, Awais Shah and others also spoke.